Hi God, What If I Get It Wrong?
Have you ever been so afraid of making the wrong decision that you couldn't make a decision at all?
You think through every possibility. You make a list of pros and cons. You ask three different people what they think. You pray about it. Then you pray about it again. And just when you think you've finally decided, you start wondering if you missed something. What if this isn't what God wants? What if I choose wrong? What if I walk through the wrong door and somehow miss the life God had planned for me?
I think sometimes we treat God's will like a hidden path we're responsible for finding perfectly.
As if there is one correct decision, and if we accidentally take a wrong turn, we've ruined everything. That kind of thinking can make following God feel exhausting.
Instead of trusting Him, we're constantly trying to make sure we don't mess up.
But what if God is bigger than our ability to make the perfect decision? What if following Jesus isn't about navigating our lives so perfectly that we never make a wrong turn? What if it's about learning to recognize His voice, seek His wisdom, and trust Him enough to follow when He leads?
Proverbs 3:5–6 says:
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; in all your ways know Him, and He will make your paths straight.”
I love that this doesn't say, “Figure everything out.” It says trust. That doesn't mean we stop thinking or making wise decisions. God gave us minds, wisdom, Scripture, prayer, and people who can offer godly counsel. We should use them. But there is a difference between seeking wisdom and demanding certainty. I've spent plenty of time wanting God to give me enough information that I could guarantee the outcome before I ever took the first step. But that's not really trust. That's control dressed up as caution. Sometimes I want God to show me the entire plan so I can make sure I don't mess it up.
Thankfully, He often gives us something much simpler: the next step.
Think about how often Scripture shows God's people moving forward without knowing exactly how everything would unfold. Abraham went without knowing where he was going.
The Israelites followed God through a wilderness they couldn't have mapped out for themselves.
Peter stepped out of a boat. The disciples left what they knew to follow Jesus.
Again and again, faith required movement before there was certainty. And I think that matters when we're trying to figure out what's next in our own lives. Because sometimes we aren't actually waiting for God to lead us. We're waiting until we feel completely confident that we can't possibly get it wrong.
But confidence and faith aren't the same thing. Faith says, “I don't know exactly how this will turn out, but I know who I'm following.”
That is a much different way to live. It means I can make a decision without believing that my decision determines my entire future. I can seek God and still make a choice. I can use wisdom and still not know the outcome. I can take a step and trust God to redirect me if I need to go another way. And that last part has been especially comforting to me. God can redirect me. If I make a decision and realize I need to change course, He isn't standing at the end of the road saying, “Well, you messed that up. Good luck.”
He's still God. He's still present. He's still able to lead. He's still able to redeem. He's still able to make a way where I don't see one. That doesn't mean every decision will have an easy outcome. It doesn't mean there won't be consequences when we make unwise choices. But it does mean I don't have to live terrified of getting everything wrong. I can ask God for wisdom. I can pay attention. I can listen. I can move when He leads. And I can trust Him with what happens after that.
Maybe that's the freedom we're missing when we're constantly asking, “What if I get it wrong?”. We're forgetting that our lives are not being held together by our ability to make perfect decisions. They're held by God. So when I don't know exactly what to do, I want to stop demanding certainty and start asking for wisdom. I want to stop trying to control every possible outcome and start trusting the One who can see every outcome.
I want to remember that obedience isn't the same thing as having all the answers. And I want to believe that God is capable of leading me even when I don't get everything right. Because I don't need to be a perfect navigator. I just need to stay close to the One who knows the way.
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